


matchmaking

by windupclock



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, Polyamory, but only in the most fun & flirty sense possible, subtle advancing of my autistic zuko agenda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windupclock/pseuds/windupclock
Summary: Suki, at first, took one look at the guy Sokka brought to the prison break and thought oh, hey, Sokka got a new boyfriend!(or: Sokka and Zuko, despite all evidence to the contrary, aren't actually dating. Suki sets out to help them remedy this.)
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 1074





	matchmaking

Suki, at first, took one look at the guy Sokka brought to the prison break and thought  _ oh, hey, Sokka got a new boyfriend! _

It was a nice thought, and the guy seemed kind enough, if a little awkward, which Suki could excuse given that they weren’t exactly in a low-stress environment. He would probably chill out a little when they got out of the frying pan; maybe Suki could bond with him later over their shared boyfriend—at least, she  _ thought  _ that’s what Sokka was to her, they really needed to discuss that, but now was neither the time nor the place and she could respect that.

And then Suki caught a glance of the scar blown across the guy’s right cheek, and her brain froze.

She knew that scar, she recognized it—and, okay, it wasn’t impossible that two different people could have the same scar, but this was a pretty distinctive one. The guy had clearly undergone a fairly serious metamorphosis over the past few months, judging by the significantly less tragic state of his hair, but that didn’t make Prince Zuko, the asshole who had burned her village down, any less recognizable.

Suki whipped her head around, mouthed  _ ‘him?’ _ at Sokka, who flushed uneasily.

“He’s not evil anymore,” Sokka whispered guiltily, and Suki rolled her eyes.

“If you say so,” she said doubtfully, and crossed her arms over her chest. 

So apparently Sokka had pretty horrendous taste in men. At least his taste in women balanced it out somewhat.

* * *

By the time they got to the temple, Suki had to admit that Zuko did seem to have changed.

He actually seemed pretty nice—they hadn’t exactly bared their souls to each other, but he’d come up to her and sheepishly apologized for setting her village on fire—“That was really fucked up of me,” he said earnestly, and Suki had to hold back a laugh—and they’d talked a little about Sokka, Zuko’s cheeks pinking at his name in a way even Suki would acknowledge was pretty adorable.

That didn’t mean she trusted him, of course; he was still the  _ prince of the Fire Nation, _ and he was dating her boyfriend to boot. She wasn’t about to let her guard down.

Still, they  _ were _ pretty cute together, especially the way Zuko kept sneaking glances at Sokka and smiling softly to himself, his face straightening when Sokka looked back.

“What do you think about that?” Suki asked Hakoda, tilting her head towards the pair of them. Hakoda followed her gaze, his brow furrowing.

“I’m not sure,” he said thoughtfully. “I trust my son’s judgement, of course, and he can make his own choices, but… it makes me wary, my children letting someone who has hurt them before come so close to them again.”

_ Children? _ Suki frowned. Was Katara dating Zuko too? How did Hakoda know that? She shrugged. It wasn’t her business if she was. 

“Don’t worry,” she said, patting Hakoda’s shoulder. “If he hurts him, he’ll have me to answer to.”

Hakoda’s chuckle in response was gratifying. 

* * *

Suki crept stealthily over to Sokka’s tent, her heart beating a little fast in her chest—they hadn’t really had a chance to talk yet, just the two of them, and she wanted this to go well. 

She was startled when the flap opened and light spilled out, followed by Zuko, who blinked awkwardly at her and blushed. “Uh, sorry,” he mumbled, looking down at his feet.

Suki laughed. “You don’t have to be sorry,” she said, tilting her head. “I certainly don’t mind you talking to your boyfriend.”

Zuko’s head whipped up so fast she worried his neck might break. “My  _what_?”

“Your boyfriend?” Suki stared at him. “Sokka?” When Zuko just continued to gape at her, she continued: “You know, Sokka? Wolftail, blue eyes, from the Southern Water Tribe? About yea high? Is this ringing any bells?”

“You—I—Sokka’s not my  _boyfriend_ ,” Zuko said, looking faintly dazed. “He’s your boyfriend.”

Suki frowned. “Yeah,” she said, drawing the syllable out meaningfully. “But he’s your boyfriend too, right?”

“No!”

“Oh.” Huh. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Zuko insisted, his entire face bright red. “I’m not—he’s not—I have to go!”

Suki watched as he ran off into the darkness. Sokka’s head popped out of the tent flap. “Is he gone?” he whispered loudly. “I heard loudness.”

“He’s gone,” Suki confirmed, folding herself through the flap and into the tent. She stopped short, glancing around. There were candles spaced in a circle in the center, gently flickering, and Sokka was holding a rose out to her and shuffling his feet. “ _Sokka_ ,” she said, incredibly touched. “This is so sweet. Thank you.”

Sokka grinned at her, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, and  _oh_ , he really was something else with his hair down. “No big deal.” He rolled his eyes fondly. “I think Zuko’s on to us, though. I swear I thought he was never going to leave.”

“Right,” Suki said slowly. “About that. Are the two of you… did you break up?”

Sokka stared at her for several seconds. “Excuse me?” he managed finally, sounding slightly like he swallowed his tongue.

“Well, Zuko said he wasn’t your boyfriend, and he seemed uncomfortable, so I wasn’t sure.” Suki put a comforting hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I thought the two of you were really sweet together.”

“What are you  _ talking  _ about? Zuko and I aren’t—we weren’t—you and I are dating!”

Was there something wrong with these people, or were Suki’s ears just not working today? She stuck a pinky in one to clean it out just to be sure. “I know that,” she said, “and I like dating you. I like you. But why would that mean you and Zuko weren’t dating?”

Sokka was, apparently, so baffled by this statement that he had to sit down and bury his head in his hands. Suki sat across from him, twirling the rose between her fingers. 

“Do you know what dating means?” Sokka said eventually, and hey, that wasn’t nice. Suki glowered at him.

“I know what dating means, and I’m very good at it, thank you very much,” she snapped.

“But—you know dating is something—it’s one of those things you do with one person at a time. Like, um. Like ice fishing? I guess you’ve never been ice fishing, but—dating’s not exactly a group activity, you know!”

_Well_. That explained a lot.

“Is that how it works in the Southern Water Tribe?” Suki asked curiously.

“What, ice fishing?”

“No, dating.” She rolled her eyes. “You can only date one person at a time?”

“Oh, uh—yeah? I mean, there wasn’t exactly a lot of dating going on when I was growing up, given, you know, the war? And the constant raids? And the only other teenager there being my sister?” Sokka shuddered at the thought. “But… are you saying there are people who date more than one person at the same time?”

“Well, yeah.” Suki gave him an indulgent smile. “It’s, like, super common on Kyoshi Island. I’m pretty sure at least half of my warriors are dating each other.”

Sokka’s brain seemed to cut out at that. “Oh,” he said after a long moment. “Well.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did date Zuko, you know,” Suki told him helpfully. “He’s nice, now that he’s not setting as much stuff on fire. I like him.”

Sokka looked offended at this. “I’m not—I won’t cheat on you with—”

Suki let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not cheating if everyone knows about it,” she explained patiently. “You have my permission, okay? I’ll give it to you in writing if that’s what you want,” she added with a wink.

“Wh—who says I even want to date Zuko, anyway? I’m not—he doesn’t—he’s gross,” Sokka sputtered. “He’s gross, and ugly, and his hair isn’t soft at all, and—”

“You totally want to date him,” Suki said gleefully. “You want to date him so badly. You  _ like  _ him.”

“I do not! I like you!”

“I like you too, and don’t change the subject!” Suki leapt forward, tackling Sokka gently to the ground. She pressed a kiss to his nose. “It’s okay if you date him,” she reiterated and brushed Sokka’s hair back behind his ear. “Really. I don’t mind at all.”

Sokka made a disbelieving noise, and Suki would have pressed the point further, but then Sokka kissed her properly on the lips and she decided she could let the subject go for a while.

* * *

She couldn’t let it go for  _ that  _ long—really, Sokka and Zuko clearly liked each other, and she wanted both of them to be happy, even if that meant taking matters into her own hands.

(Suki _loved_ taking matters into her own hands.)

She intended to talk to Zuko the next morning, but he was gone—something about a life-changing field trip with Katara, apparently. Suki was slightly insulted that Zuko had never invited her on a field trip, life-changing or otherwise (especially since, unlike Katara,  _ she’d _ never threatened Zuko’s life to his face, only behind his back), but it did make sense when she thought about it: Zuko thought she would be offended by his feelings for her boyfriend, so he was wary of getting too close.  _ Ugh _ . Was this how relationships were outside of Kyoshi Island? All of this frustration?

Still, it was nice to get to hang out with Sokka for a day. They sparred together, and Suki was impressed by how much Sokka had improved—he wasn’t quite good enough to beat her reliably, but he managed to knock her on her ass a fair few times. Suki was reasonably sure this was what love felt like.

The entire time, though, there was a slight thread of tension between them. Suki could tell Sokka was still mulling over their conversation from the night before, probably stubbornly guilty over his crush even though Suki had  _ told  _ him it was fine, and it didn’t help that both his sister and Zuko were gone. Together.

Sokka’s concern was understandable. If anyone on the team was going to end up ‘accidentally’ murdering Zuko, it was probably going to be Katara. 

* * *

Shockingly enough, both Zuko and Katara made it back in one piece, although Zuko still refused to meet Suki’s eyes directly. That absolutely would not do, so she cornered him when he snuck out to practice his firebending the next morning, and she absolutely did not feel a jolt of pride when he jumped.

(She totally did. She was so good at being sneaky that she could out-sneak Zuko, who was disturbingly and unsettlingly good at sneaking around to the point where she was considering investing in a bell for him.)

“Suki!” Zuko yelped quietly, nearly falling on his ass. “What are you doing?”

“What are you doing?” Suki challenged. 

Zuko’s face twisted in confusion. “... firebending?”

“Not right now,” Suki said, rolling her eyes. “With Sokka.”

Zuko visibly flinched. Suki began to think confronting him this directly might not have been her best plan. “I’m sorry,” he said, taking another step back. “I’ll stay away from him, I didn’t mean to—”

“Zuko, relax,” Suki said, using the most calming tone she could manage. “I’m not mad, okay? Look.” She pointed to her face, which was smiling. “Do I look angry to you?”

“I don't know. Kind of?” Zuko shrugged. “I’m not good at—reading people or whatever.”

“Oh. Well. I’m not angry, I promise. Listen, I don’t know what it’s like in the Fire Nation, but where I come from, dating two people at once is totally normal. Does that make sense?”

Zuko looked at her with real fear in his eyes. “Are you saying you want to date me? Because—it’s not that you’re not beautiful, but I don’t—you know, uh—”

“Not me!” Suki clarified, her eyes wide. “Please don’t date me. I mean, you don’t like girls that way, right? And I think you’re really cool, but I don’t feel that way towards you. I was talking about Sokka.”

“How did you know I don’t…” Zuko trailed off, like he couldn’t quite get the words out.

“I mean, I didn’t know for sure, just… the vibes?” Suki shrugged. “I have a good intuition for it. Plus, uh, your reaction just now pretty much confirmed it.” She smiled at him. “But anyway, Sokka does like girls  _ and _ guys, and he specifically likes you, so you should go for it!”

“Go for it,” Zuko repeated.

“Yeah!” Suki gave him her most winning grin. “You know, grab the bull-moose by the horns?”

“Why would I do that?” Zuko asked, sounding genuinely baffled. “Have you seen how big their horns are?”

Suki groaned. “It’s an expression. Just tell him you like him, okay? Please. I don’t like seeing him mope like this. I want him to be happy, and I want you to be happy, and you make each other happy, so… do that. You know. Make both of you happy.”

“I…” Zuko looked at her for a long moment. “He likes me? You’re sure?”

Suki patted his shoulder. “Completely.”

* * *

A few hours later, Suki was talking to Toph when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko walk up to Sokka and tensed in excitement and second-hand nerves. Toph scrunched her face up. “Something wrong, fan girl?” Her eyes widened in realization, and she grinned. It was a surprisingly salacious expression for a twelve-year-old. “Oh, are Sparky and Snoozles about to get their act together? It’s about time.”

“You knew?”

Toph snorted. “Please. Those two are so weird around each other, I’m surprised everyone doesn’t know.”

“Right?” Suki exclaimed. “I don’t think they even realized it themselves, honestly. I had to point it out to them.”

“Boys are stupid,” Toph said wisely.

“Yeah,” Suki agreed, watching Sokka follow Zuko off into the woods with a little grin. “Hey, Toph, could you—”

“I am  _ not  _ spying on whatever they’re doing in there,” Toph said firmly. “I am an innocent child. I don’t need my feet besmirched by _that_.” To underscore her point, she swung her feet up and into Suki’s lap. “Ah, the sweet bliss of ignorance.”

“Buzzkill,” Suki muttered, knowing Toph would hear her perfectly.

* * *

When Sokka and Zuko came back from the woods, Zuko blushing furiously and Sokka’s hair out of its topknot, both of them sneaking occasional glances at the other, Suki had to resist the urge to fist-pump in victory.

Instead, she covertly fist-bumped Toph and blew a kiss at Sokka, who made a show of grabbing it and tucking it away. Then, for good measure, she blew a kiss at Zuko, but he didn’t seem to know what it meant, so Sokka had to intercept it. He kissed Zuko swiftly on the cheek and then glanced at Suki like he was checking if it was really okay, which was ridiculous, how much clearer did she have to make herself?

She shot him a smirk and a thumbs-up in response. Hopefully that would clear up any lingering confusion.

Her work here was done.


End file.
